The Asian golden cat (Pardofelis temminckii, syn.
Catopuma temminckii), also called the Asiatic golden cat and Temminck's cat,
is a medium-sized wild cat of South Eastern Asia. In 2008, the IUCN classified
Asian golden cats as Near Threatened, stating that the species comes close to
qualifying as Vulnerable due to hunting pressure and habitat loss, since
Southeast Asian forests are undergoing the world's fastest regional
deforestation rates. The Asian golden cat was named in honour of the Dutch
zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck, who first described the African golden cat in
1827.

Description

The Asian golden cat is heavily built, with a typical cat-like
appearance. It has a head-body length of 66 to 105 cm (26 to 41 in), with a tail
40 to 57 cm (16 to 22 in) long, and is 56 cm (22 in) at the shoulder. The weight
ranges from 9 to 16 kg (20 to 35 lb), which is about two or three times the size
of a domesticated cat. The pelage is uniform in colour, but highly variable
ranging from red to golden brown, dark brown to pale cinnamon, gray to black.
Transitional forms among the different colorations also exist. It may be marked
with spots and stripes. White and black lines run across the cheeks and up to
the top of the head, while the ears are black with a central grey area. Golden
cats with leopard-like spots have been found in China, resembling a large
leopard cat. This spotted fur is a recessive characteristic.

Distribution and habitat

Asian golden cats live throughout Southeast Asia, ranging from Tibet, Nepal,
Bhutan, India and Bangladesh to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Southern China to Malaysia and Sumatra. They prefer forest habitats
interspersed with rocky areas, and are found in dry deciduous, subtropical
evergreen and tropical rainforests.[5] Sometimes, they are found in more open
terrain such as the grasslands of Assam's Manas National Park. In altitude, they
range from the lowlands to over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the Himalayas.

In Laos, they also occur in bamboo regrowth, scrub and degraded forest from the
Mekong plains to at least 1,100 m (3,600 ft).Surveys in Sumatra and in the Nam
Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area in northern Laos indicated that they are
more common than sympatric small cats, suggesting that they are more numerous
than previously believed. Surveys in Thailand, Northern Myanmar and
India's western Arunachal Pradesh revealed fewer numbers. In Bhutan's Jigme
Singye Wangchuck National Park, they were recorded by camera traps at an
altitude of 3,738 m (12,264 ft). In Sikkim's Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve,
they were photo-trapped at elevations up to 3,960 m (12,990 ft).

Since Hodgson’s description of 1831 of a male individual in Nepal under the
binomial Felis moormensis, the country is believed to be the westernmost
part of the felid's range. But no specimen has been recorded in the country,
until in May 2009 a camera trap survey yielded the first photographic record of
a melanistic Asian golden cat in Makalu Barun National Park at an altitude of
2,517 m (8,258 ft).

Three subspecies have been recognized.Pardofelis temminckii temminckii found in the Himalayas,
Southeast Asian mainland and SumatraPardofelis temminckii dominicanorum found in southeast ChinaPardofelis temminckii tristis found in southwest China

These trinomials do not yet reflect the taxonomic re-classification accepted
since 2006.

Some surveys have found more records for the Asiatic golden
cat than for some other sympatric small felids (including the marbled cat,
flat-headed cat, and fishing cat), suggesting that it may be more common than
previously thought (Duckworth et al. 1999, Holden 2001, Duckworth et al. 2005,
J. Sanderson pers. comm. 2007). Other survey efforts, however, have turned up
fewer records (Rao et al. 2005, Lynam et al. 2006, Mishra et al. 2006). Given
that its distribution (Nowell and Jackson 1996), home range (Grassman et al.
2005) and camera trap encounter rates (Holden 2001, Lynam et al. 2006) are
similar to those of clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa and Neofelis diardi
diardi), it may be of roughly equivalent abundance.
Population Trend: Decreasing

Ecology and behavior

Asian golden cats are territorial and solitary. Previous observations suggested
that they are primarily nocturnal, but a field study on two radio-collared
specimens revealed arrhythmic activity patterns dominated by crepuscular and
diurnal activity peaks, with much less activity late at night. The male's
territory was 47.7 km2 (18.4 sq mi) in size and increased more than 15% during
the rainy season. The female's territory was 32.6 square kilometres (12.6 sq mi)
in size. Both cats travelled between only 55 metres (180 ft) to more than 9
kilometres (5.6 mi) in a day and were more active in July than in March.
Asian golden cats can climb trees when necessary. They hunt birds, large rodents
and reptiles, small ungulates such as Muntjac and young Sambar deer. They are
capable of bringing down prey much larger than themselves, such as domestic
water buffalo calves. In the mountains of Sikkim, they reportedly prey on
ghoral. Their vocalizations include hissing, spitting, meowing, purring,
growling, and gurgling. Other methods of communication observed in captive Asian
Golden cats include scent marking, urine spraying, raking trees and logs with
claws, and rubbing of the head against various objects, much like a domestic
cat. Not much is known about the reproductive behavior of this rather elusive
cat in the wild. Most of what is known, has been learned in captivity. Female
Asian golden cats are sexually mature between 18 and 24 months, while males
mature at 24 months. Females come into estrus every 39 days, at which times they
leave markings and seek contact with the male by adopting receptive postures.
During intercourse, the male will seize the skin of the neck of the female with
its teeth. After a gestation period of 78 to 80 days, the female gives birth to
a litter of one to three kittens in a sheltered place. The kittens weigh 220 to
250 grams (7.8 to 8.8 oz) at birth, but triple in size over the first eight
weeks of life. They are born already possessing the adult coat pattern, and open
their eyes at six to twelve days. In captivity, they live for up to twenty
years. The Asian golden cat bears a great resemblance to the African golden cat,
but it is unlikely that they are closely related because the forests of Africa
and Asia have not been connected in over 20 million years. Their similarity is
more an example of convergent evolution.
The Asian golden cat is similar to the bay cat of Borneo in both appearance and
behavior. Genetic studies revealed that the two species are very closely
related. The Asian golden cat is found in Sumatra and Malaysia, which only
separated from Borneo about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. These observations led
to the assumption that the Borneo bay cat is an insular subspecies of the Asian
golden cat. Genetic analysis has shown that the Asian golden cat, along with the
bay cat and the marbled cat, diverged from the other felids about 9.4 million
years ago, and that the Asian golden cat and bay cat differed as long as four
million years ago, suggesting that the bay cat was a different species long
before the isolation of Borneo. Because of the evident close relationship with
the marbled cat, it has recently been suggested that all three species should be
grouped in the genus Pardofelis. In some regions of Thailand, the Asian
golden cat is called Seua fai ("fire tiger"). According to a regional legend,
the burning of an Asian Golden Cat's fur drives tigers away. Eating the flesh is
believed to have the same effect. The Karen people believe that simply carrying
a single hair of the cat will be sufficient. Many indigenous people believe this
cat to be fierce, but in captivity it has been known to be very docile and
tranquil.T he Asiatic golden cat is primarily found in forest habitats, ranging
from tropical and subtropical evergreen to mixed and dry deciduous forest
(Nowell and Jackson 1996). Less frequently it is found in more open habitats
such as shrub and grasslands (Choudhury 2007). Grassman et al. (2005) found
golden cats used closed forest and more open habitats in proportion to their
occurrence, showing no significant preference. Some studies have suggested it
may be less common in montane forest: in Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park,
all records for this species were from lowland forest with none from montane
forest, unlike the clouded leopard and marbled cat (Holden 2001). Mishra (2006)
also found clouded leopard and marbled cat, but no Asiatic golden cat, in the
hill forests of India's western Arunachal Pradesh province. However, Wang (2007)
obtained camera trap photos of the Asiatic golden cat at an elevation of 3,738 m
in Bhutan's Jigme Sigye Wangchuk National Park in an area of dwarf rhododendron
and grassland, an elevation record for the species. Activity readings from two
radio-collared golden cats in Thailand's Phu Khieu National Park showed
daytime and crepuscular activity peaks (Grassman et al. 2005). Forty-seven per
cent of 15 camera trap records in Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park were in
daytime (Holden 2001). This suggests that the species is not primarily
nocturnal, as thought previously. An adult female Asiatic golden cat in
Thailand's Phu Khieu National Park had a home range of 32.6 km², overlapped
78% by a male whose home range was 47.7 km². Golden cat home ranges were larger
than clouded leopard home ranges, although they were similar in activity and
mean daily distance moved (Grassman et al. 2005).One confirmed scat contained
the remains of Indochinese ground squirrel (Grassman et al. 2005). Scats from
Sumatra contained rat and Muntjac remains, and the stomach contents of a carcass
in Thailand's Kaeng Krachan National Park included the remains of a small snake
(Grassman 1998). While the reddish-gold pelage the cat is named for is the most
common form, there are also are spotted (Wang 2007) and melanistic morphs
(Holden 2001, Grassman et al. 2005).
Systems: Terrestrial

Major Threat(s):

The Asiatic golden cat is threatened primarily by
habitat loss to deforestation, but it threatened by indiscriminate snaring
(Holden 2001), and there is illegal trade in its pelt and bones (Nowell and
Jackson 1996, Duckworth et al. 1999, Lynam et al. 2006). It has been reported
killed for depredating livestock, including poultry but also larger animals such
as sheep, goats and buffalo calves (Sunquist and Sunquist 2002). The Asiatic
golden cat is capable of taking larger prey, and is threatened by declining
ungulate abundance in many parts of Southeast Asia.

Conservation Actions:

P. temminckii is listed under Appendix I of CITES (as
Catopuma temminckii). It is fully protected over most of its range by
National legislation. Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China,
India, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and
Vietnam and is regulated in Lao PDR. There is no legal protection outside
protected areas in Bhutan (Nowell and Jackson 1996). Its range includes many
protected areas.